A majority of studies find YouTube’s recommender is a gateway to problematic content

Evidence

Nonetheless, a systematic review conducted in 2020 assessed the conclusions of twenty-three academic studies. At least fourteen of them (61 per cent) clearly found the YouTube recommender system to be a gateway for problematic content. So, at the very least these findings cast serious doubt on YouTube’s claim that this is not how their recommendation engine works. Although YouTube may no longer be recommending conspiracy theories outright, once you start watching questionable content, its algorithm does maximize engagement by skewing recommendations towards similar videos. It’s a filter bubble. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 415

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Automated recommendation feeds can expose teenagers to thousands of radicalizing videos — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 381; YouTube’s recommender still steers viewers toward same-category harmful videos despite algorithm changes — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 411; Radicalization stories overstate the causal role of recommendation algorithms — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 387 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Radicalization stories overstate the causal role of recommendation algorithms #contradicts (0.90) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 387
• A tiny minority of motivated users drives most extreme content consumption #qualifies (0.72) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 412